One Tree Hill: The Lily Roe Scott Story
by Misty Elizabeth
Summary: Lily Scott begs her mother to let her settle down in Tree Hill after an incident prompts her to give up their nomadic lifestyle. Karen is apprehensive about returning. Lily wants to slip into an old life. But why does Lily need to run at all? In this chapter, Lily finally admits what had happened and she lets one person catch a glimpse of who she used to be before Tree Hill High.
1. And each town looks the same to me

**CHAPTER ONE:** **And each town looks the same to me,**

 **the movies and the factories**

 _If I lay here  
If I just lay here  
Would you lie with me,  
And just forget the world?_

I had my earphones plugged in, listening to the beautiful track as I lay on the River Court. It was a basketball court by the river in the small town of Tree Hill. It was pretty unimaginative on the part of whoever had named it so. I had heard stories about when my half-brother, Lucas and his half-brother, Nathan had gone head to head in one-on-one basketball wars. I hadn't seen them play off against each other because right after I was born, my mother and her husband, Andy Hargrove, had decided to travel the world. We were joined for quite some time by Lucas, his wife, Peyton and their baby daughter, Sawyer.

We flitted from place to place like nomads and I was homeschooled for the longest time. Then I had to go to regular school but every new turn, had another new adventure. Until the very last stop, I had gone along with this plan of living like nomads. I had quite enjoyed it. But our last move…things happened….and it made me beg my mother to let me return to Tree Hill.

"For once, I want something for me. I want to move to Tree Hill," I had practically cried. My mother had almost cried too, because that had been a life she had dreadfully wanted to escape from. She said the place was too heavily laced with memories for her: both good and bad.

She had tried her best to coax the truth about my wanting to move there out of me but she couldn't. I was as obstinate as my brother when it came to wanting something. Finally, Andy came to our rescue, saying he'd been offered his old job back at the Tree Hill Community College and he'd like to very much try it out for a year.

"A year is all I ask," I had said.

Finally, mother had given in saying, "Just as well. I suppose you deserve to see the lives your brother and I lived before you came along. Besides, there's no dearth of family in Tree Hill."

So we moved to Tree Hill and the late afternoon found me lying on my back in the River Court listening to _Chasing Cars._ I had lost count of how many times I had heard the song. It had been a month and I had kept the same playlist on loop. A shadow fell across on my face and I squinted up.

A dirty blonde boy was grinning down at me. The family resemblance was quite uncanny, and I smiled back at him.

"Cousin Lily!" he said, "So the rumours are true. You have returned home."

"I thought I was Aunt Lily to you," I answered, and sat up with quite some difficulty, "Yes. I moved back to Tree Hill."

"No. It's Aunt Karen and Cousin Lily," Jamie said, "That's what Uncle Lucas told me anyway."

"Lucas is my older brother, you know," I reminded him.

We looked at each other and laughed.

"What a screwed up family we have!" We exclaimed in unison.

Jamie sat down in front of me, meaning all business and started, "So. I hope you know school's going to start in about a week's time. And we have the annual bonfire night too once school does open. I am the star basketball player and…."

"Woah! Slow down, Jamie," I said, "Why are you giving me the play-by-play of school?"

"Because mom and dad said you're going to be joining school? We'll be in the same grade even though you _are_ a few minutes older than I am."

I laughed, "Jamie. You really don't have to be here if you don't want to be. I'm not going to force you to hang out with me."

"Actually, I kind of want to be here," Jamie said, pointing to the basket, "I came out to shoot some hoops."

"Then I'll play you, if you shut up about school." I said, "Just like old times."

He flashed me a smile, "You mean the time of Uncle Lucas' wedding to Lindsey? That's not exactly like old times now, is it? I got kidnapped."

"Well, you _were_ an annoying kid."

"How would you know? You're just a few minutes older!"

But part of the charm of being around family is how easy it is to forget everything else. For an entire evening, time stood still as we played one on one basketball. For some joy, the love for the game pretty much ran in our family. And I loved Jamie for letting me play basketball with him despite us being sixteen-year-old teenagers. It was nice to have a simple friendship when everything else in my world was completely falling apart.

* * *

I opened the door to my room from the outside and entered saying, "Someone needs to tell me why Lucas thought an outdoor attached to his room was a good idea!"

"Maybe he thought he could sneak in easily that way," Jamie suggested.

Despite my protests, he had tailed me home, saying he wanted to meet Aunt Karen and Andy.

"Mom, we're home," I called, loudly, "Where are you?"

"In the kitchen," she called back, "Who's we?"

Jamie practically raced past me and I followed him to find my extremely startled mother engulfed in a hug by Jamie.

"Aunt Karen!" he squealed, "I always dreamed this day would come!"

"You dreamed you wanted to hug my mother?" I asked, confused.

"No, silly girl," he scoffed, "I dreamed all of my family would move to Tree Hill someday."

"Well unless Lucas moves back to town, I'd say your dream is just half true," I said.

Jamie looked from my mother to me in utter confusion and asked, "Wait. Doesn't Lily know?"

"Know what?" I asked, sharply.

"Maybe we should head out into the café?" my mother said, gently, "Come on, Lily."

As I entered Karen's Café, people seemed to spring up from everywhere and yelled in unison, "SURPRISE!"

A banner hung across the room that read, "Welcome home, The Scott Family!"

Among the many faces that I had vaguely seen during my brief visits to Tree Hill and innumerable post cards for many occasions, there stood my brother Lucas with his family, beaming at us. Before I could say anything, the door opened and Andy came bursting in saying, "Did you guys already start? Oh no. I'm sorry, Lily. I wanted to get here early."

"It's okay," I found myself saying, "I'm just a little confused. Mom?"

"What's the matter, little sis, aren't you happy to see me?" asked Lucas, coming forward and giving me a hug.

I hugged him back, "I am, I am. I thought you and Peyton decided to never come back to Tree Hill. I'm confused."

"We did," said Peyton, now giving me a hug, "But your brother's got a major case of writer's block. And he thought with Karen moving back to town, maybe family could inspire him."

"Brilliant," I said, mechanically.

There were just too many people. I couldn't deal with human beings at the moment. But I couldn't show it either. Everyone in the café meant well. Everyone loved the Scott family. Because now Haley was hugging me, telling me she cannot believe we're supposed to be cousins-in-law and Nathan giving me an awkward one-armed hug. It had always been rather weird between us, with Lucas always smoothing over the tension.

Brooke and Julian were crossing over from the Bakerman and coming into the café now. I could feel my throat closing up, as I stumbled a little trying to talk to everyone and peddling hugs as well. Before I could collapse onto the floor though, someone gripped me tightly by the arm and I heard Jamie say, "Aunt Karen, do you mind if I take Lily out for a bit? I promise we'll be back in fifteen minutes."

"Fifteen minutes, Jamie," my mother said, cottoning on at once, "We'll start dinner then. Everyone should be here by then…all of the other guys from Nate and Luke's basketball team."

He steered me out of the café and I let him. I don't quite remember how but suddenly we were on the rooftop. The rooftop I'd heard Lucas go on and on about. The rooftop Jamie had once sent me pictures of. It had so many memories from the past. He made me take a seat and told me to catch my breath.

"What's going on with you?" he asked, casually.

"Nothing," I said, a little too quickly.

"Sweetheart, I invented _nothing_. Look, if you don't tell me, I cannot help you."

"I didn't ask for your help."

"Yeah, and you'd have passed out downstairs if I'd not helped you escape five minutes back."

"I owe you. Thank you, Jamie."

"Look – if you ever need to talk…"

"I'll come looking for you."

* * *

 **Author's Note:** I recently started watching One Tree Hill again and realized the tremendous potential it had to have a spin off series with the children. Now since Jamie and Lily are much older than the others, this story is set during their Junior Year in Tree Hill high. If I write another spin off, the babies on the show would get to be a lot older. :) Let's see.


	2. It's A Very, Very Mad World

**Chapter Two: It's A Very, Very Mad World**

It is said that it's okay to run as long as you're running towards something and not away from it. But I don't know. Somedays I feel if I could run fast enough, I might be able to outrun all my problems. I could outrun anything.

I had woken up early and sneaked out of the house for a run, my iPod tucked into my ear. Without quite knowing how, I'd ended up in the cemetery where part of my family lies buried. Where my dad lies buried.

Keith Scott.

I never knew the man. I was born into the world, fatherless and with a mother who loved me to bits but who'd been hurt enough by the world. I couldn't add to her misery. I halted before my father's grave and wondered what I could possibly say to him.

But before I could get even a word out, there was a rustle behind me and turned around sharply. A boy stood there looking at me. He looked hardly older than me. His brown hair had fallen across his eyes, and he stood there dressed in a fitting shirt and blue jeans. I spied his headphones resting by his shoulder. We stared at each other for a whole minute and then I called out, "Can I help you?"

"I hope not," he answered, "You don't know how to bring back the dead, do you?"

"Nope," I said, "But I'm working on it."

"I'm Ryan Summers by the way," he said.

"And I'm Lily Roe Scott," I introduced myself.

I wondered what he would say next or if the conversation was already over. Just as suddenly he smiled and said, "Well, I'll be seeing you." Then tucking in his headphones into his ears, he walked off, leaving me to my very confused thoughts in the cemetery.

"Good morning, mom," I called as I entered Karen's Café, "What's for breakfast?"

"Sit down. Eat a proper meal before you go off to school," she said, putting a plate of pancakes before me.

Overjoyed, I sat down at the table. The door to the café opened and Jamie's voice followed. "Oooh! Pancakes for breakfast!"

In a flash he was sitting right next to me. I turned to him and asked, "Doesn't Haley make you breakfast?"

"Don't be mean!" Haley said, appearing with his plate from the kitchen, "I made enough to go around."

"I had no idea, mom, that when I said I wanted to move back to Tree Hill, I'd have more family than I know what to do with it!" I said, tucking into my breakfast.

"You know, you're really lucky, don't you?" my mother asked me, "When Lucas was growing up, all he had was me, Haley and Keith."

"You mean, my dad Keith?"

The words had flown out of my mouth before I could stop them. I saw the hurt cross mum's face before clearing up. I felt terrible but the early morning visit to the grave had really riled me up.

"Eat your food and get to school."

So we ate in silence, and despite all my protests, I found myself being driven to school in Jamie's car.

"Just drive slow," I told him.

"Have a good day, darling," my mom said, giving me a peck on the cheek.

"I love you, mom," I said, giving her hug.

I passed Lucas who was dropping in for breakfast with eight-year-old Sawyer. He called out a 'good luck' to me. I raised my hand in acknowledgment.

"Drive safe, Jamie," he yelled to his godson.

"Yeah, you better drive safe," I said.

* * *

As we drove to school, Jamie tried to strike up a conversation again. He seemed really interested to know about what seemed to bother me so much. He had guessed I was carrying a secret around with me.

"So, are you ever going to tell me why you decided to move back to Tree Hill, Lily?" he asked.

"I just got bored of the nomadic life, you know," I answered, "I had to settle down somewhere. Be rooted for a change."

"Sure. Keep telling yourself that." Jamie pulled into the parking lot of Tree Hill High. "And by the way, welcome to Tree Hill High. It sucks but you'll fit right in."

I laughed, "I thought you're a popular little jock. Shouldn't high school be fun for you?"

"Not if you're a Scott," he said, grimacing slightly, "Our family history is just a tad too…"

"Let's not go there…" I said, opening the door and getting off the car. "Thank you for the ride."

"Oh hey, I have basketball practice today after school. So you might have to walk home," Jamie said, climbing out of the car.

"It's fine, Jamie," I said, "You really don't have to babysit me."

It was a good thing too because the next second a raven haired girl in a cheerleader's uniform practically leaped into his arms.

"Jamie!" she squealed.

"Alison," he said, sounding quite happy, "You know, we did see each other just last week?"

"It feels like forever though," she said. She spotted me and frowning asked me, "And who might you be?"

"I'm Jamie's aunt," I replied, watching Jamie cringe slightly, "I'm Lily Roe Scott."

"Alison Schneider," she said, warming up to me at once, "I'm also the head cheerleader."

"And I'm out of here." I said, "I have to go meet the Principal before I settle into school."

"Good luck," Jamie said, as I began to walk away from them, "Come watch our basketball practice after school if you don't want to go back home yet."

"Thanks," I yelled over my shoulder and immediately crashed into someone. Two hands steadied me before I toppled over.

"Woah, steady there," and then the guy from the morning, Ryan Summers, was standing right in front of me, asking, "Hey are you okay?"

"I'm swell, Graveyard Guy," I said, "Sorry. I was talking to my cousin over my shoulder…and…anyway, not interesting. Do you know where the Principal's office is?"

"Sure, Graveyard Girl," he said, "Right this way."

Ten minutes later after the Principal had formerly welcomed me into the school, and then told me to get my classes, (after raving about how wonderful my parents and brother are), I found out that my locker was right next to Jamie's.

"Figures," he said, "It's alphabetical."

Ryan's locker wasn't too far away from mine either. Jamie scowled at him as he walked away and asked, "And who is that?"

"Uhhh…...Ryan Summers," I replied, "Nothing to worry about, little nephew. Don't tell me he's an enemy of yours!"

"I don't have enemies, Lily," he answered, "Just people who keep out of my way, if they know what's good for them."

We laughed and then he added, "But seriously. I think he works for the school paper. So please be a little careful. Our school paper can give gossip magazines a run for their money!"

"Brilliant," I said, "On that note, I'll see you at lunch."

* * *

The first day of school was quite exhausting for me. I didn't know all the shortcuts to classes and twice I got lost and had to text Jamie for directions. I was quite glad when it was time for lunch. I could always count on my mother to pack me a good lunch. Only when I opened the brown paper bag did I find a ten-dollar bill and a note from mom saying, "Here's to you enjoying the whole Tree High experience!" Annoyed, I walked into the cafeteria to buy my lunch.

What I didn't count on was the fact that the old cafeteria lady would remember both Nathan and Lucas, and be able to pin my family resemblance.

"You remind me of someone," she said, "Oh I remember now. You're Lucas Scott's sister, aren't you?"

"Lily Roe Scott," I said, forcing up a smile. "Can I please just get my food?"

"You're full of light," she said, giving me the food tray, "Good people always are, and you come from two of greatest people I've ever know."

I walked out of the cafeteria and was about to go outside to eat, when I stopped short. I saw the hallway…the hallway Lucas had described in _An Unkindness of Ravens_ and I'd seen in the movie Julian produced. Even though I'd not eaten a morsel of food, I felt sick to the pit of my stomach.

This is where it had happened. This is where it had all ended…...even before it all began for me. My head was reeling and I found myself praying that Jamie find me, and take me away somewhere safe. I had not been ready to see this spot yet. How would I know my father's murder spot would jump out at me in school?

Maybe mom had been right. Coming back to Tree Hill was the worst decision I'd ever taken in my life. I could feel tears forming in my eyes and blinked them away angrily.

"Lily?"

I turned to see Nathan standing there in the Coach's uniform. He took the scene in one minute and then, the next he'd placed his hand over my shoulder and gently hurried me along.

"Let's go have lunch in my office, shall we?" he asked, kindly.

I didn't trust myself to speak, so I merely nodded.

* * *

 **Author's Note:** If you read this story and you liked it, please review it. Follow it. Add it to favourites. It would mean the world to me. Thanks! :)


	3. Picture Perfect Memories

**Chapter Three: Picture Perfect Memories**

Lois Lowry once wrote that "The worst part of holding the memories is not the pain. It's the loneliness of it. Memories need to be shared." But I am not sure I wanted to share my memories with anyone quite yet. Least of all with Nathan. The member of my family I felt the most alienated from somehow. I found myself sitting at the desk opposite from his Coach's chair.

"How are you doing, Lily Roe Scott?" he asked, gently.

"I'm fine."

"Lily. You and Lucas both has the same tell…"

"I'm pretty overwhelmed," I replied, instantly. "I don't know what I was thinking wanting to come back to Tree Hill. I forgot. Nathan…what kind of a daughter forgets the very spot her father got murdered?"

"The same kind who shares a cousin from the guy who killed her dad?" he said, apprehensively. "Lily, I know you and I have never been close and I don't blame you. But Luke and I…"

I frowned and cottoning on said, "I don't blame you for my dad's death, Nathan. It wasn't your fault. It was Dan Scott's fault and oh well, at least he's gone."

"He did try to redeem himself towards the end," Nathan said, softly.

"I am sure he did," I said, "But if you killed someone, if stood by and watched someone die, how do you seek redemption from that?"

"Lily?" he asked, confused.

I shook my head realizing I'd let slip something I should not have in the first place. I gave Nathan a watery smile, "You're my brother's brother. He means the world to me and I know you've always meant the world to him. I think we'll just have to meet each other halfway, Nathan. No more tiptoeing around each other. Deal?"

"Deal," he said, but he wasn't entirely convinced by me, "And listen Lily, if you ever need to talk then please…my door's always open."

The bell rang signaling the end of lunch break. I got up saying, "I'll take you up on that offer some other time, Coach. Right now, I've to get to class. I've English and I don't know where that class is."

"It's okay, I remember where that classroom is," he laughed and gave me the directions.

* * *

I found the classroom in the nick of time and suddenly all my nightmares seemed to have become rolled into one. I shared this particular class with Jamie, Ryan, and Alison and when our teacher entered, I almost fell of my chair.

"Good afternoon, class, it looks like I'll be your new English teacher for a while before Mrs. James Scott can come back to us again. It's a good thing I was in town, wasn't it?" Lucas was grinning at us from the front of the class.

I could feel my heart sinking and I knew Jamie was beyond thrilled. My cousin and my brother were part of the administration of my school. Did he bribe Haley to stop coming to school for a few days? What work could Lucas possibly have in school? My mind was whirring again.

"My name is Lucas Scott," he was going on, "And some of you might know me. But to those of you, who don't, I should just tell you I'm pretty easy to please. Don't talk in class, listen to me and submit your assignments on time. You'll be fine."

I had a feeling he was looking directly at me when he said that. I nodded slightly and Lucas went on, "Good. Now, I thought we'd go back to the stories we used to read as children and see how we read it differently now. Your assignment is to pick one book that meant the world to you as a child and how you look at it differently now. I won't be grading you but I do expect everyone to participate in my class."

* * *

"Lucas is our English teacher," I echoed, as we walked out of school that day, "Jamie, why didn't you warn me about that?"

"Because I didn't know," he said, shrugging, "Usually my mom's the one who takes English. I didn't know she'd gone on a brief break either. Then again, Luke and Hales have their own little world. I never quite know what's going on with them."

I smiled at him, "Jamie. It's okay to want what Luke and Hales has. But if you want that kind of a friendship from me, you're not going to find it."

"Well, the last girl best friend I made ended up becoming my girlfriend," he said, rolling his eyes. "I'm sorry if it felt weird when I tried to help you. It's just that between all the girlfriend drama and the teammate drama, I thought having a friend in a cousin would help me take my mind off things for a bit. I just want to be able to talk to someone and not think of the consequences…you know."

"What you're doing for me is really, really sweet," I said, smiling, "And it's not your fault that I cannot open up to being best friends with you yet. But I can promise you one thing, James Lucas Scott, you're pretty much the only friend I have in the world."

His face broke into a wide grin and the next minute I was engulfed in a big bear hug. He let go, and I laughed, "Don't you have practice to get to?"

"Oh yeah, are you coming?" he asked.

"I will," I answered, "I just need to do something quickly before I come to the gym. Will Alison save me a seat?"

"She'll be too busy cheering," Jamie laughed as he rushed off to practice.

I found the signup sheet hanging the hallway for other curricular activities. I saw that they'd be holding tryouts tomorrow morning for the girls' track team and immediately signed up for it. Then I went to fetch my books from my locker and found my brother standing there.

"You know this used to be my locker," he said, as he moved aside to let me keep my books inside and take out my homework, "And when Hales and Nate got married we became locker buddies."

"How cozy," I laughed, "Jamie and I are locker buddies thanks to the alphabetical system."

"Funny how they didn't change that," he commented.

"Were you ever going to tell me why my brother suddenly decided I needed him as my high school English teacher?" I asked, banging the locker shut.

"Because I missed out on the opportunity to go to school with my adorable younger sister?" he asked, with a grin.

I scowled heavily at him and he laughed, "Haley needed a favour and I came through. That's what best friends do you know, kid. When you have a best friend, you'll understand."

"Well, I needed to be rooted to a spot for more than five minutes for that to happen, Lucas. Everything has its pros and cons. I got to see the world but for most part I don't remember seeing it." I said.

"Awww, cheer up little girl," he said, placing an arm over my shoulder, "Want to go see Jamie practice?"

"I was actually on my way there," I said, "Don't tell me. You're his Coach too?"

"Actually, I'm Nate's assistant. You can sit on the bleachers and watch us Scott boys in action."

I rolled my eyes but followed him to the gym nonetheless. The guys on the basketball team were warming up, and the cheerleaders were at the other end going over their routine. Lucas walked off to talk with Nathan, and in the midst of it all someone called,

"Hey, New Girl! Think fast!"

And out of nowhere a basketball came hurtling towards me, that I caught deftly in my hands. Out of the corner of my eye, I made sure Lucas and Nathan were still deep in conversation. Jamie was standing between me and the guy who'd thrown the ball at me, wondering what I'd do next. I smiled at the guy who'd throw it and not taking my eyes off him, threw it towards the hoop. There was pin drop silence as I made the basket and Jamie caught the rogue basketball. I winked at the guy and walked off to the bleachers.

"What the hell?" he croaked as he finally found his voice.

"Don't mess with a Scott," laughed Jamie. He jabbed a finger at his father and his uncle and mouthed, "Can you believe them?"

I shook my head, unable to suppress my glee. I sat in the bleachers, watching Jamie's practice. He'd kept looking at me, to make sure I was fine and I found myself slowly warming up to the possibility that maybe we could be better friends. Maybe we had always been destined to be on more than just postcard terms. I was grateful he'd let me fight my own battle but he knew too well what it meant to be Scott in Tree Hill.

I found him after he'd finished his practice and was about to drive his car home. I was standing next to it.

"Remember the offer you made me?" I asked him.

"If you ever need to talk…"

"I think we should talk."

We went upstairs to the roof again, and Jamie asked, "So what did you want to talk about?"

"I don't know…nothing, everything," I said, slowly, "I wasn't lying when I said you're pretty much the only friend I have."

"What about Ryan Summers?" he asked.

"I hardly call the guy I ran into in the cemetery my friend, Jamie."

"What were you doing in the cemetery?"

"Visiting my dad…I know it's so stupid and all," I said, "But I just had to see him."

"I can understand that," he said, "But why was Ryan hanging out in cemetery?"

"It's kind of personal so I didn't ask," I replied, "Anyway. You know the friendship Haley and Lucas have, well, friendship like that doesn't grow on trees and neither can you force it. But…."

Jamie grinned at me, "Louise, I think this is the start of a beautiful friendship."

"So here's the deal. I tell you something about myself and you tell me something about yours. Let's see who can hold onto all their secrets for the longest time, eh?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh, you're so on," he laughed.

* * *

 **Author's Note:** _I really would appreciate reviews, favorites and follows :) C'mon you die hard One Tree Hill lovers. Show me some love? :D_


	4. If Only We Could Turn the Hands of Time

**Chapter Four: If Only We Could Turn the Hands of Time**

Sarah Dessen once wrote that 'There comes a time when the world gets quiet and the only thing left is your own heart. So you'd better learn the sound of it. Otherwise you'll never understand what it's saying.' But for me, when that silence does descend upon my soul, I don't plan to understand what my heart is saying. I plan to outrun the silence.

"Okay, ladies. On your mark, get set, go!" the girls' track team coach yelled and blew her whistle.

And so I began to run. When I reached the finish line, I looked over my shoulder to find her staring me, the whistle hanging from her lips and stopwatch held tightly in her fist. The other girls were still pretty far behind me. I had no idea how fast I'd run but given the looks on everyone's faces, I realized I must have already set a pretty good record.

"Congratulations, Scott!" the Coach yelled, "You made the team. Practice after school today."

And despite the heavy silence that I could feel crashing down around me, I felt a flicker of happiness. It had been a long time since I'd felt that emotion.

I found Jamie waiting for me next to our lockers. He grinned at me and said, "The word is you set a new record for the 100m dash."

I smiled back, sheepishly, "I like running. It was kind of easy, you know."

"Well, congratulations, Lily Roe Scott," he said, throwing a jersey at me, "You're officially one of us now."

I looked at the jersey. It had "Scott" written on it, with the number 3 and I frowned at him, "Hey! This is Lucas' old jersey."

"Yeah. I found it among my parents' old things this morning. I thought you'd like to have it."

"Thanks," I said, "But I kind of like the number 12 more than I like 3. And it is Roe-Scott for me."

Jamie laughed. "Deny it all you want. You're a true Scott too. Keep the jersey. You never know when you might need it."

The bell rang signaling the beginning of first class. I hastily stuffed Lucas' old jersey into my locker and went off to try and find my History class.

* * *

"Well, hello, Graveyard Girl," said Ryan when I found myself taking the seat next to him in my History class.

"And hello to you too, Graveyard Guy," I greeted, "How has the school week been so far?"

"Pretty annoying actually," he said, "I'm trying to get an exclusive for the school paper with this new girl that moved to town. But she's been dodging all my advances."

I frowned at him. "So you do work for our notorious school paper."

"I do," he agreed, "But the girl I want to interview isn't you, so don't freak out. It's Peyton Sawyer Scott."

"My sister-in-law?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Listen, I know it's really weird for me to be asking this…."

The teacher entered the classroom and began to talk to us. "Good morning, class. Today should be like any other day…."

"…but I have a deadline and if Peyton…."

"…when I speak you will not speak, and if you have questions, you will raise your hand…"

"…doesn't agree to an interview, I'll get kicked off the paper for good!"

"Alright," I said, in a rather fierce whisper.

"Really?" he asked, sounding thoroughly overjoyed.

"And is there anything you would like to say to the class Mr. Summers and Ms. Scott?" he asked us.

I should have probably shut up but I heard myself saying, "It's Roe-Scott."

"Is it?" he asked, "Well, you can tell me all about it in detention after school. And Mr. Summers can join you."

It struck me briefly how badly the situation had turned out because I had my first practice after school and now I had my first detention. And my brother was here as the substitute English teacher for the week. There was no way I could let him found about any of this.

* * *

Predictably, I found Jamie at the parking lot with his friends from the basketball team. His arrogant teammate, the one who'd thrown the basketball at me, was also there.

"Jamie," I called, as I walked over to them.

"Oh, hey, Lily," he said, getting up from his seat and walking over to me, "What's going on?"

"I am kind of in trouble, and I need your help." I said, dancing a little on the balls of my feet. "Please?"

"Sure. What's wrong?"

"I have my first track practice today after school and I kind of landed myself in detention after school too."

"Excuse me?"

"Mr. Harrington. Ryan was talking to me and then Mr. Harrington asked if anything I would like to add, Ms. Scott and I told him it was Ms. Roe-Scott, and next thing I know, I'm in detention."

"Okay, okay. Calm down, and you talked back to Mr. Harrington. Are you insane?"

"No. I'm new."

"And this Ryan guy…"

"Please help me? Also. Lucas cannot know I got detention my first week in school!"

"Fine. I'll help you. But only because we're family. Not because I think what you're doing is right."

"Yaay! Thank you." I said, giving him a quick hug, "See you after school."

* * *

"The things I do for you, Roe-Scott," muttered Jamie, as he helped me climb out of the window of detention. "Are you sure we're not going to get into trouble for this?"

"Only if we get caught," I answered, "Come on. I have a window of forty-five minutes for showing up for practice and getting back inside detention."

"And what makes you think none of the other students are going to tell on you?" asked Jamie, as I stood next to him now, closing the window behind me.

"It's the funniest thing," I said, "It turns out than only Ryan and I got into trouble today. And he better not tell on me, if he knows what's good for him."

It was a good thing the detention classroom was in the ground floor. Sneaking out was quite easy. I rushed off to practice, thanking Jamie and saying that I owed him. He shook his head and went off to his own practice.

"You're late," my Coach said, when she caught sight of me, "And you haven't even changed for practice. Planning to run in jeans today, missy?"

"I know, I know, I'm sorry," I said, "I lost track of time."

"Well in that case, you can run in your jeans today," she said, "maybe that will help you keep track of time the next time?"

"Goddammit," I muttered.

I didn't know that from afar Lucas stood and watched this rather strange scene of seeing me practice in my regular clothes. I caught a brief glimpse of him, when I pretended to be winded and the Coach was forced to let me off.

"Running in regular shoes," she scoffed, "the next time you turn up for practice, Ms. Scott, make sure you're wearing the proper attire."

"Thanks. I will. This won't happen again," I panted, and hurried off.

I found Jamie waiting for me by the detention room window again. He opened it and boosted me up saying, "You ran in your jeans?"

"How did you know that?" I hissed.

"Uncle Luke saw you, and I overheard him telling Dad. Lily!" he said, sounding dismayed, "I'm not going to lie to Uncle Luke for you."

I rolled my eyes as I clambered in through the window, "You won't have to. I'm not going to get into trouble again."

Getting inside, I tumbled down inside. Jamie took off again, and just as I sat down at the desk I'd previously abandoned, the door of the detention room opened.

"I hope you two learned your lesson," Mr. Harrington said, coming inside the room, "Do not speak out of turn in my class ever again."

We nodded our heads, in agreement and he added, "You may go now."

Ryan and I did not speak to each other till we reached our lockers. Then he asked me, "Did you really manage to skip detention to go run in your jeans?"

"Ha-ha," I replied, "You better not talk to me during class for the rest of the school year."

"If you take me to go meet your sister-in-law," he said, extending his hand, "Do we have a deal?"

Struck by sudden thought, I took his hand saying, "Deal. In fact, let's go right now and talk to her."

* * *

I didn't know who was more bewildered when we stood at the front door of Nathan's old home: Haley or Ryan.

"Hey, Lily…what's going on? Are you looking for Jamie?" Haley asked me, sounding rather confused.

"Not really," I answered, "You see my friend Ryan here said he wanted to meet my sister-in-law."

"I…I meant…." Ryan stammered, as he realized he stood in front of his English teacher from school, "You set me up, Lily Roe Scott."

"Well, you didn't say _which_ sister-in-law," I pointed out.

Haley looked at like she didn't know what to say. I guess that was the moment she realized that I was learning to begin accepting Nathan as a part of my rather weird family. It was also the moment I realized that maybe I wasn't as alone as I thought I was in this world. I really did have more family than I knew what to do with it!

* * *

 **Author's Note:** _I cannot thank you guys enough for favorite-ing and following the story. :) And even though the reviews aren't as many as I would like, it means the world to me to know people are reading this story and enjoying it too! ^_^ I really do think OTH should have a spin off series for real. And it wouldn't hurt if they hired me to write the screenplay for them either. :P_

 _This chapter title is borrowed from the song "What If" by Kate Winslet from the movie A Christmas Carol._


	5. And If You Were Here With Me Tonight

Chapter Five: And if you were here with me tonight

"Not all those who wander are lost," J.R.R. Tolkien had written. But for my mother, me and Andy Hargrove, we traveled around the world because my mother wanted to live out all her dreams. Lucas and Peyton and their daughter, Sawyer, had been with us for the greater part of the journey since Sawyer's birth. But then Luke's new novel was due and this nomadic lifestyle wasn't helping him. So he and Peyton went back to the States. They settled down in New York City and my little world full of some familiar people, was empty again. It was around this time, that I asked if we too get to live somewhere for some time. So for six months we lived in a small town called, Blue Hallows. It was there that Andy got a teaching job at the community college, my mother started working as the manager of a local café and I started going to High School in my freshmen year.

 **Around Two Years Ago**

"Good luck at school today," my mother said, giving me a peck on my cheek and handing me my lunch, "Now are you sure you want to do this?"

"As sure as I'll ever be," I said, taking my lunch from her, "Good luck with the café too. Goodbye, mum. See you soon."

It was on the very first day at Blue Hallows High that I met him. The boy who was going to change my life forever.

Joshua Pierce Sangster.

I think from the very first day that we locked eyes with each other, we knew we were going to be bound together, against all odds. He was sitting on one of the outside tables placed in the parking lot nose buried in a book. I would have actually walked past him had it not been for the book he was reading.

He was dressed in a baggy t-shirt and faded blue jeans. His dark brown hair looked quite messed up. As though it refused to lie flat on his head. He looked so calm and serene, as he drank in the words of the book he was reading.

 _An Unkindness of Ravens._ It was the book my brother had written. It documented his life ever since he'd joined the Raven's basketball team in his junior year of high school. In many ways, the game had changed his life. I didn't even know when I'd stopped short right in front of the guy, staring at the book.

He looked up from the book and smiled at me, "I'm guessing this is one of your favourite books?"

"Kind of," I muttered, "I'm new here by the way. What about you?"

"I'm Joshua Sangster," he replied, offering me his hand, "Welcome to Blue Hallows High. You're…?"

"Lily Roe-Scott," I answered, shaking his hand, "What other books do you read, Joshua?"

"You can call me Josh," he said, "And I read all kinds of books, Lily. I thought I'd give this a try. It did get a lot of amazing reviews."

"I'll bet," I said, softly. "So, are you freshmen too?"

"No, I'm a sophomore actually," he answered, "And you're joining the public school system in school? The worst years of people's lives?"

"Well, it was either this or being homeschooled forever," I told him. "Guess what I chose?"

He laughed.

"Well, I guess I'll see you around, Lily," he said, as the bell rang, signaling the start of morning classes and I felt a little less lost in the world.

It was nice to know there was at least one familiar face in the sea of unknown faces. That there was one fifteen-year-old boy who would see me around, when High School got a little overwhelming for this particular freshman girl.

Somedays I like to pretend we spoke for a longer time in our first meeting. Some days, I like to pretend we'd never met. Because Joshua Pierce Sangster had been branded a little too strongly in my memory and on most days, I couldn't shake the feeling that if I had just tried harder, I could've saved him.

* * *

 **Present Day.**

I woke up with a jolt as though the ground beneath my feet had slipped away. Almost on cue the backdoor to my room opened and Lucas came in.

"Good morning, sleepyhead," he said.

"Remind me to lock that door!" I said, catching my breath and running my fingers through my hair, "What are you doing here?"

"Umm…I used to live here Lily. This is _my house, my old room_ and…"

But I cut in, "Keyword: old. Don't you have a fancy new house with your beautiful wife, Peyton and a doting little daughter, Sawyer? This is my room now, Luke."

"And I'm your elder brother, Lily. So are you going to tell me why you were wearing jeans during track practice yesterday?" he asked.

"Wardrobe malfunction?" I asked, timidly.

"Lily," and I knew I was in for a lecture but Lucas surprised me by saying, "If you're ever in trouble, you know you can come to me. Don't you?"

"And I'm not in trouble at the moment," I answered, forcing a smile, "I was just too in over my head yesterday. It won't happen again."

He nodded at me and he was just about to leave my room, when the door opened again and Ryan came through yelling, "Okay, Roe-Scott. Enough games. You're going to take me to see Peyton today or…"

He stopped short seeing Lucas was surveying him with narrow eyes. Ryan gulped and asked, "Excuse me. Do I have the right house?"

"You're right, Lily. You really need to keep that door of yours locked," Lucas said, "And who might you be?"

"I'm Ryan Summers. I was in your English class yesterday," Ryan said, sheepishly extending his hand, "I'm really sorry, Mr. Scott. But Lily promised to…"

"Take you to see my wife," Luke said, giving his hand a brief shake.

"Actually, he said he wanted to meet my sister-in-law," I piped up, "So, I kind of took him to see Haley."

"No wonder she was so pleased last night at dinner," Lucas said, more to himself than to us, "Okay. Get yourselves to school."

"Listen, go wait in my mum's café," I said to Ryan, "I'll meet you there before school."

"You better not be lying," he said, as he let himself out of my house.

Lucas went off to meet our mother, and I rather reluctantly came to terms with the fact that I'd have to get dressed and go to school.

I had been in school fulltime just once before this and it was during my freshmen year at Blue Hallows High. The sophomore year, I spent being homeschooled and touring around the country thanks to my mother's wanderlust and Andy's stints as guest lecturers to different colleges. Sometimes I wondered why I thought coming back to Tree Hill would miraculously answer all my problems.

Maybe at a subconscious level I knew I couldn't outrun my problems forever. Maybe I knew no matter how fast I ran, that night, almost two years ago would never let me go. Or maybe I knew that Tree Hill more ghosts and warped up histories than I could even imagine. Maybe it would feel right at home to me. Or maybe, I would finally slow down and see what had happened for what it really was: _all my fault_.

* * *

 **Author's Note:** _I am finally trying to mesh up the past Lily had with the present time in Tree Hill. This is more of filler chapter. Mostly to introduce Joshua Pierce Sangster, who you might have guessed plays a huge role in all this. Once again, thank you for the favourites and the follows. And tell me which character would you like to see interact with Lily the most._

 _The title of this chapter has been take from the song "Hear You Me" by Jimmy Eat World._


	6. I Promise You My Heart

Chapter Six: I Promise You My Heart

William Shakespeare wrote that, "It is not in the stars to hold our destiny but in ourselves." I would like to believe that. I would love to believe more than anything that it wasn't destiny that led me to Joshua but it was my own free will that led me there.

 **About Two Years Ago**

I found Joshua Pierce Sangster again during the lunchbreak, his nose buried in the book. His lunch tray lay next to him – completely forgotten. I wondered how could he possibly find the entire book so intriguing that he'd forget to eat! But I knew people did not like to be interrupted when they were reading so I kept quiet. He looked up from his book in time to find me hesitating.

"Oh hello there," he said, smiling at me, "Didn't you make any friends today?"

I shook my head, "I've been on the road so much, I don't think I really know how to talk to people." I had certainly surprised myself when the words left my mouth. I had no idea how to make friends and yet here I was, talking about it. Because I felt at ease with Joshua.

"Well you can sit here with me then," he said, "But you cannot tell me how the story ends."

"Done," I answered, gratefully slipping into a seat next to him, "Who's your favourite character so far?"

"Nathan" he replied, without missing a beat, "I know he's supposed to be an asshat at the start but…I think I'm really warming up to him."

"Because he's a tragically misunderstood popular jock?" my voice must have been dripping with sarcasm but I couldn't take back what I'd said.

Joshua smiled kindly at me, however and told me something that I'd carry with me for the rest of my life. "People are always dealing with more than they show you, Lily. You'll only ever just scratch the surface with them. What we see of other people's lives, it's barely a window of few seconds. In fact, on the surface you're just a freshman trying to fit in. But deep down, I bet there's more to you than meets the eye, Lily Roe-Scott."

I grinned at him. "And I bet there's more to you too, Joshua Sangster."

"Joshua Pierce Sangster," he said, with a laugh, "If we're going to be friends. You might as well know that about me."

* * *

 **Present Day.**

When I made it to Karen's Café, Haley was already there overseeing the orders. Ryan was sitting at the counter talking to her about homework!

"Hey," I called, "Ready to go?"

"Good morning to you too, Lily. Sit down and eat," Haley called from behind the counter.

"No, thank you," I answered, "I'm good."

"Ha ha, it wasn't a question," she said, firmly.

So I sat down and had to dig into my breakfast. At least the food wasn't bad at all. It was rather amazing.

"You know you have to pay for your food, right?" I asked Ryan, as I watched him sip coffee from his cup.

"Hurry up with your food, Lily," he answered, irritably, "We hardly have an hour before school starts. And we cannot climb in through the window to avoid being late now, can we?"

"Woah! Who climbed in through the window?" asked Haley, reappearing at the counter.

"Thanks for breakfast, Hales. But we really have to meet Peyton before we go to school," I answered, hopping off the stool, "C'mon, Big Mouth."

"It was nice seeing you, Mrs. James-Scott. I hope you come back and teach us again," Ryan said, as he followed me out of the café.

"Okay, do not mention my delinquent behavior in front of my sister-in-law," I warned him, "Either ONE of them." I added, causing Ryan to wipe the smirk off his face.

* * *

I knocked constantly and loudly, until a very pissed off Peyton yelled out, "I'm coming! I'm coming! Geez! Hold your horses you – Lily!" she said, as she opened the door and discovered the source of the commotion. "Hi. Was I expecting you?"

"No, no, you weren't," I said, "Peyton, this is my friend, Ryan Summers and he's been bugging me to come meet you. Ryan, this is Peyton Sawyer Scott."

The exchanged pleasantries and I went on, "Ryan works at our school newspaper and he really wants to do an article on you." Peyton nodded, trying to keep up with us, "So, now that you two have met. I'll leave you to it."

"Peyton Sawyer! It's such an honor to meet you," said Ryan, as I slowly began backing away from them. "Can I please, please interview you?"

"Well, since you asked so nice, why not?" said Peyton, "Why don't you come down to my office after school today?"

I had already started walking towards school when Ryan caught up with me, "Hey! Thanks for that. I guess we're even now."

"We are," I replied.

"So does this mean we're walking to school together?" he asked.

"Not even close," I answered, preparing to run to school. But I paused for a brief moment and said, "Well, I'll be seeing ya." And then I took off towards school at top speed.

"Lily, did you really run all the way to school?" Jamie asked, as I slowed down my pace and began walking towards our school.

Jamie must have been waiting for me, I figured. His car keys were dangling from his right hand.

"I did," I replied, with a grin, "What can I say? It's a real rush."

"Brilliant. I can add crazy cousin to the list of relatives that I have," Jamie said, rolling his eyes. "Look, if you want a car then maybe I can help you get one."

"I really don't mind running to school," I said, shrugging, "Besides, I have way too many people offering me rides."

"Oh, are you Ms. Popular?" he teased.

"No. I meant the whole family suddenly wants to offer me rides," I said, rolling my eyes, "What do you people have against me walking to school?"

"We don't mind you walking, Lily. What we do mind is you running like a crazy person to school. You know like we have a reputation to protect," Jamie said, "We're Scotts after all."

"What about us, Scotts?" asked Nathan, looming up behind us and falling into step.

"Apparently we have a reputation to protect," I laughed.

"Oh yeah, that we do," he agreed. "Lily, where's Lucas this morning?"

"He was at our house," I said, "But after that, I have no idea. I just ran to school. I mean walked. I walked to school," I corrected myself, hastily, catching the look of confusion on his face.

"I _told_ you no one runs to school," Jamie scoffed, as we entered our school hallway.

I merely laughed. His words had brought back a rather fond memory from my one year at Blue Hallows High. It was one of those beautiful Friday evenings that get etched into your memory forever.

* * *

 **About Two Years Ago**

Over time Joshua and I bonded our love for literature and his determination to introduce me to good music. Because apparently the stuff I liked listening to was simply child's play. But when it came to books, I definitely was the one who had the upper hand.

"So, there's a school dance this Friday," Joshua said, casually during one of lunchbreaks. "I was wondering though…do you dance?"

"I know a little bit about dancing," I answered, smiling, "Are you asking me to the dance?"

"Are you saying yes?" he asked. His voice was so full of hope and apprehension.

I smiled at him and said, "Okay. And I'll meet you here at school then?"

"I was thinking about picking you up around seven," he said, frowning a little.

"Oh. I thought I'd just run to school, you know?"

"Lily – _no one runs to school_. They do try to run far, far away from it though sometimes."

"I'll keep that in mind."

* * *

 **Present Day.**

"Hey, are you still here?" asked Jamie, "Or are you daydreaming?"

"I'm still here," I said, shaking my head, "And that's our cue to go to class." The school bell went off and morning classes started.

On my way to class, I passed a notice. Then I took around look at what was printed on the notice…...the first back-to-school dance was on Friday. Was it really déjà vu? Or was this always meant to be? Were my past and my present meshing together to finally make sense?

It was a good thing that Jamie was in most of my classes because when I took my seat behind him in Algebra, I nudged him and asked, "Hey. There's a dance this Friday?"

"Yes," he said, and with a smile he added, "Don't worry. I'll find you a date." Then he winked at me and went to back to working on his math problems.

And in my head, I began to sort through all the problems I'd so far avoided to even take a look at.

* * *

 **Author's Note:** _Ah, so the plot thickens. Thanks for following and favouriteing the story so far :) I am really enjoying writing about Lily. They really should have given her and Jamie a spin off. I am loving planning and writing this story. Be prepared for lots of school drama at the dance soon :D_


	7. In This World It's Hard To Get It Right

**Chapter Seven: In This World It's Hard To Get It Right**

It is said that life is not about learning to wait for the storm to pass but learning to dance in the rain. But if that's true...I would gladly just wait out the damn storm.

Apparently school dances were a thing. Because Jamie actually went on the stupid date hunt for me. Even though I had only said yes to his crazy idea to only humour him.

"What's wrong with this guy?" he groaned on Thursday, when he caught up with me during lunch. "He's a teammate too. So I know he's not going to try anything."

I rolled my eyes. "Thank you, James Lucas Scott. But I think I'm going to skip the school dance altogether this time."

"You cannot skip your first school dance," Jamie said, seriously, "C'mon. I'm going with Alison."

"Madison."

"No. Her name is Alison."

"I meant, wasn't Madison the one true love of your life. I remember you raving about her in your letters. Whatever happened to her?"

"She started dating Chuck when we were in the 10th grade."

"Ouch. I'm sorry, Jamie."

"Yeah, me too but it's okay. I have Alison now."

I nodded. I hoped this had distracted him for the time being but Jamie was a Scott boy. And once something is on their mind it's extremely difficult to side-track them.

"Back to you."

I groaned.

"Look, if you don't pick a date, I'll have Uncle Lucas look into the one I do pick for you."

"Dude, he's my brother. So please don't."

"I won't tell him if you just say yes to the next guy that walks up to you."

And at that unfortunate moment, Ryan Summers walked up to us, yelling, "Hey guys! Lily, do you have a minute?"

"Yes, she'll go to the dance tomorrow with you." Jamie said, winking at me. "I've to go now. I'll catch up with you in English again."

Ryan looked utterly bewildered for a minute and then he said, "Oh, I take it you don't have a date to the dance tomorrow?"

"Not for lack of trying, trust me," I said, rolling my eyes. "What's up?"

"I did that interview with Peyton Sawyer. She's amazing!" he said, practically jumping up and down in excitement.

"Okay. Good for you," I said. "When's her article coming out?"

"I think on Monday. I just wanted to thank you again for helping me out."

I smiled at him. He took that as a cue to go on. "And I was thinking. I'd love to go to the dance with you tomorrow."

And had it not been for the fact that I was quite petrified of what Jamie might do if I told him I'd turned down yet another offer to go to the dance, I don't think I would have accepted the invitation.

* * *

"This was such a bad idea," I murmured to myself as I twirled around in my light green dress in front of the mirror. I noticed the necklace that I was wearing, and the ring that hung from it like a pendant. It had been easy so far to hide it from the world when I was dressing in t-shirts and jeans. But a dress did make it harder to lose it.

I took it off and placed it carefully inside my dresser and locked it. "See you soon."

"You look beautiful, honey," my mother said, from the doorway.

"Really? You don't think I should just wear my jeans and ratty t-shirt tonight?" I asked, still checking myself in the mirror.

"Your father would have been so proud of you, Lily," she went on.

"Of going to a stupid school dance?" I asked, trying to lighten the mood. I didn't know where my mother got the strength to talk about my dad, but it always broke my heart a little to know he would never know me.

"You know why," she said, coming closer to give me a hug, "And I'm also proud of you. You're a good person, Lily Roe Scott."

"If you only I could get the rest of my school to call me that!" I said hugging her back, "And don't worry about me tonight. Okay, mom?"

"When is your date coming to pick you up?" my mother asked now, "I'd like to meet him."

"Ryan should be here any minute and mom, it's not a date. It's just get Jamie to stop hounding me about not having a social life." I replied, rolling my eyes.

There was a knock on my door and the next minute Ryan Summers let himself inside. He really did look nice in a suit.

"You must be Ryan," my mother now said.

"I am. Hi, Lily. You look beautiful," he said, he extending his hand to my mother, "Hello Ms. Roe."

"It's Mrs. Hargrove, but hello to you too," she said, "Now, get my daughter home by eleven and be careful while driving."

"And don't try anything funny tonight," I added as we climbed into his car.

"Are you kidding? Half your family is chaperoning tonight. I'd be crazy to!" Ryan laughed, as we drove off to school.

* * *

The school looked really pretty with all the decorations. You couldn't tell it was the same hell hole that we went to during the day time for classes. And Jamie was happier than I was when he saw me arrive at the dance on Ryan's arms.

"You're finally acting like a normal human being," he said, offering me a glass of punch.

"This is punch, right?" I asked, apprehensively.

"Dude, my dad and your brother are chaperones. Of course it's punch." Jamie said, drinking from his own glass.

"Well, I'll drink to that," Ryan said, helping himself to some.

The rest of the evening passed by pretty painlessly. I danced with Ryan and refused to slow dance with him though. I had almost forgotten the world outside but just when I thought things couldn't get worse, the organizer and the social chair, Claire McPhee got up on stage to congratulate everyone on how great the dance had been.

"Everyone who has helped organize the dance please give yourselves a pat on the back," she said, grinning, "And we are about to have our last dance for the evening. Thank you everyone for coming out tonight. Goodnight!"

"Do you want to dance to this slow number?" Ryan asked, turning to me.

"Actually, I want to take you somewhere." I said, offering my hand to him, "Want to come along?"

* * *

"So this is the infamous Rivercourt!" Ryan said, with a whistle.

I was walking on the stands now, right to the end and then turning back as I spoke to him, "Yes, it is."

"It is a beautiful place," he said, looking around, "I cannot believe I never took the timeout to come down here."

While Ryan kept up with me on the ground, I kept walking on the bench, and then turning on the edge and walking back. I was slowly gaining momentum.

"Do you want to know why I shut off the world from my life?"

Walk, walk, walk and turn.

"Why?" he asked.

Walk, walk, walk and turn.

"Because of a boy."

Walk, walk, walk and turn.

"He broke your heart?"

Walk, walk, walk and turn.

"He wrecked his stupid car."

Standstill.

"Is he…?"

"He's fine."

"Did you love him?"

Walk, walk, walk and turn.

"I do."

Walk, walk, walk and turn.

"What happened?"

Walk, walk, walk and turn.

"Everything and nothing."

Walk, walk, walk and turn.

"What was his name?"

"Joshua Pierce Sangster."

Walk, walk, walk and turn.

Walk, walk, walk and turn.

Walk, walk, walk and turn.

"Did he break your heart?"

"But I broke his too."

Standstill.

"Is that why you came back to Tree Hill? To fix your broken heart?"

I was walking like a lunatic by now. One wrong turn could hurt me, but I couldn't stop. Suddenly, the dam had broken and I had to let someone in. Ryan Summers was the only one around and I figured it couldn't hurt.

"I don't know. Can you break a broken heart?"

"You need to slow down, Lily. If you keep walking and turning like this, you can fall. Be careful."

"That's what I kept telling myself. To be careful, but it's never enough. I didn't know…Ryan. It wasn't my fault...you have to believe me!"

"What wasn't your fault?"

"That Joshua wrecked his car."

At this very minute I twisted my ankle and crashed onto the ground. I hit my head pretty badly.

"LILY!" Ryan yelled, as he rushed over to me and felt my whole world get plunged into darkness.

* * *

 **Author's Note:** _I always wanted to write the scene of Lily walking on the benches like a lunatic, and turning. Very Sound of Music-ish. :) I really liked that. I hope I could convey the conflict Lily Roe Scott is feeling at the moment...she has finally let someone in but it's like the voices in her head are really tearing her apart._

 _Title of the chapter is borrowed from Ingrid Michaelson's Everybody :D_


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